The Adventures of Pinocchio

• Zipes, Jack (Ed.) 2000. The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales. Oxford UP. pp. 384–5.

n a forest Geppetto, a young boy, Italian woodcarver Geppetto carves a heart into a pine tree, expressing his secret love for a woman named Leona. When he leaves, lightning strikes the tree, imbuing the heart with magic. Years later, an older Geppetto finds the remains of the tree and carves a marionette out of it, naming him Pinocchio. Due to the heart's magic, Pinocchio comes to life, referring to Geppetto as his father. Pinocchio chases a pigeon outside, meeting Leona, and then a pair of thieves, Volpe and Felinet, who work for Lorenzini, a sinister theater director and puppet master, informing him of Pinocchio's existence and sentience. Lorenzini tries to purchase Pinocchio, but Geppetto refuses to sell his son.

Pinocchio climbs out of a window and wanders into town, joining a group of boys in school. He gets into a fight with the rowdy Lampwick, and when he lies about it, his nose grows longer, and he is kicked out of the class. In bitterness, Pinocchio ends up causing damage to a local bakery, and Geppetto is arrested as a result. Pinocchio flees home, meeting a talking cricket, Pepe, who tells Pinocchio to behave in order to become a real boy. The next day, Pinocchio and Geppetto are put on trial. Unless Geppetto pays a fine, he will be imprisoned. Lorenzini enters, offering to pay off the debt if Pinocchio is given over to him. Geppetto reluctantly agrees after being reminded of his poor state.

Pinocchio becomes the star of Lorenzini's shows and is given gold coins as payment. However, Pepe helps him discover that he is ultimately unloved by Lorenzini. Pinocchio rescues several of Geppetto's puppets from being deliberately burnt, unintentionally setting Lorenzini's theater alight. He then leaps into a river and flees to the forest, where he decides to live. Felinet and Volpe find him, swindling him out of his coins. Pinocchio spots a stage coach passing by carrying Lampwick and other boys, travelling to Terra Magica, a hidden funfair for boys to do as they please. Meanwhile, Geppetto and Leona have been tracking down Pinocchio. Losing track of him, Geppetto rows out to sea upon finding Pinocchio's hat on a beach.

In the funfair, Pinocchio, Lampwick, and other boys go on a roller-coaster, but drinking the water of Terra Magica turns them into donkeys, symbolizing their bad behavior by turning them into "jackasses". The funfair turns out to belong to Lorenzini, who sells the donkeys off to circuses and farms. Pinocchio has Lampwick kick Lorenzini into the cursed water, transforming him into a demonic sea monster. The boys and donkeys flee the funfair, Pinocchio reuniting with Leona at the beach, and he sets out to find his father at sea. Pinocchio and Pepe are consumed by a giant sea monster which they recognize as the now feral Lorenzini, reuniting with Geppetto inside his stomach. From the strong smell of rotten chili peppers, they try to escape up Lorenzini's throat, Pinocchio lying to extend his nose and make the passage larger, causing his nose to break. Lorenzini starts to choke, breaching the ocean top, spitting Geppetto and Pinocchio out in the process.

On land, Pinocchio and Geppetto embrace. Pinocchio's tears flow, the tears landing on the heart carving, the same magic force from before transforming him into a real boy. The two embrace once more over the miracle. Pepe congratulates Pinocchio before leaving, wanting to rest from the whole ordeal, but promising they will see each other again soon. On the way home, Pinocchio runs into Felinet and Volpe, whom he tricks them into going to Terra Magica and drinking the cursed water there; and are later revealed to have transformed into a real cat and a fox, which results in them getting corralled by a farmer and kept as pets, where they later witness Pinocchio in town. The donkeys transform back into boys by reforming. Geppetto and Leona marry, and Pinocchio gives his father a log he found to carve into a girlfriend.

Cast Martin Landau as Geppetto, a young boy impoverished puppet maker who accidentally gives Pinocchio life after carving him from an enchanted log. He is initially reluctant to accept the puppet as his son, but warms up to him once he loses him. Jonathan Taylor Thomas as Pinocchio, the eponymous character and main protagonist of the film. He seeks to learn about right and wrong so that one day he will become a real boy. He was puppeteered by Mak Wilson, Robert Tygner, Michelan Sisti, Bruce Lanoil, William Todd-Jones, and Ian Tregonning. David Doyle as the voice of Pepe, a talking cricket who serves as Pinocchio's spiritual conscience. In the trailer, Wallace Shawn was cast as Pepe until the role was recast to Doyle. This was Doyle's final performance before his death in 1997 next year. Geneviève Bujold as Leona, a friend of Geppetto's who Geppetto is secretly in love with, a love which is actually mutual, despite her having previously married his late brother. She serves as the Blue Fairy's stand-in in the film. Udo Kier as Lorenzini, an original character created for the film. He is an amalgamation of Mangiafuoco, The Coachman and The Terrible Dogfish. His fondness for chili peppers, which give him his somewhat fiery breath, is a homage to Mangiafuoco. Bebe Neuwirth as Felinet, a scheming con artist always looking for the next profit. Her name is an Italian world for "Cat". She and Volpe are based on the Fox and the Cat from the original novel. Rob Schneider as Volpe, Felinet's dimwitted partner. His name is the Italian word for "Fox". He and Felinet are based on the Fox and the Cat from the original novel. Corey Carrier as Lampwick. Unlike in the novel and the 1940 Disney version, Lampwick truly becomes Pinocchio's best friend, and affectionately calls him "Woody" even after they have both become real boys. Dawn French as the Baker's Wife. Though she does more damage to her shop than Pinocchio, she sways the court judge to rule in her favour. Richard Claxton as Saleo, Lampwick's companion and friend who kicks Pinocchio in class at school. He is turned into a donkey, along with Lampwick and another boy (Joe Swash), after drinking cursed water on Terra Magica's roller coaster and eventually returns to normal along with all of the other changed boys by reforming in the end. John Sessions as the Professor, an irritable teacher who Pinocchio inadvertently annoys while attending one of his classes. Jerry Hadley as the Judge, a court official who threatens to send Geppetto to a debtors' prison for Pinocchio's irresponsible behavior. Jean-Claude Dreyfus as the Foreman Development Nearly ten years before the film was eventually made, Director Steve Barron and Jim Henson were considering the idea of a live-action version of Pinocchio. They approached Disney with this idea, but Disney turned down the project. Years later, producer Lawrence Mortorff President of Kushner Locke sent Barron a script for a film based on the Carlo Collodi novel. The project then finally got off the ground.